An Assessment of Forest Product Extraction in Kakamega Rainforest and Associated Human Impact, Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Forest products utilization by the rural households living adjacent to forests is a common practice. Sustainable utilization of products from forests ecosystem is critical in ensuring continued availability of products for the current and the future generations. Bio economic values of rainforest and human impact were assessed in Kakamega forest. The objective was to identify the types of products that are extracted from Kakamega forest, what influences their utilization and the associated human impact on the forest ecosystem. Questionnaire survey using stratified random sampling was employed to collect data from 96 respondents from the edge of the forest within a radius of 5-10 kilometers. Data analysis was done using a combination of descriptive statistics like percentages, measures of central tendency and measures of frequency together with inferential statistics like chi square and presented using tables, graphs and pie charts. The results indicate that products extracted from Kakamega forest include fuel wood, charcoal, medicinal herbs, timber for building and making furniture, fodder and honey. Utilization is influenced by distance of the household homestead from the forest, income levels of the rural households adjacent to the forest and the family size. The study concluded that there has been an increase in exploitation of these products as a result of population increase, encroachment and weak enforcement that has decreased the forest products according to 83% of the respondents. The study recommends that utilization of products from the forest can be made sustainable through creating awareness on the benefits of products from the forest through seminars and workshops, incorporation of the communities that depend on the forest for their livelihood into forest governance and encouraging many researchers to venture in forest research and trainings to protect the forest from overexploitation